Elegant Date Palm Trees
Photographer: Menashe Davidson
Summary Author: Menashe Davidson
Date palms (Phoenix dactylifera) are elegant trees that perform several landscaping functions. Their single, cylindrical and highly textured trunks distinguish them from other ornamental trees. Looking at the top photo, it’s clear to see why they’re often emphasized as ornamental landscaping trees.
The trunks of the date palm don’t have a cambium layer. Rather, these trees lengthwise growth is upward and is provided by means of leaf growth from apical meristem. Because the habit of palms is a cylindrical, there are no branching stems. The trunk is composed of vascular bundles held together with connective tissue. Trunk stems are covered with leaf bases having a spiral arrangement, giving them their unique textured appearance (bottom picture).
In ornamental tropical gardens, fronds hanging at an angle less than 90 degrees to the trunk are typically pruned off each year, ensuring that the date palm retains sufficient foliage and an aesthetically pleasing appearance. Photos were taken on February 11, 2023, in Rishon LeZion, Israel.
Rishon LeZion, Israel Coordinates: 31.9730, 34.7925
Related Links:
Date Palm Plantation